Authors: Ariel Marie
T
he Witches’ Council
is made up seven members. Each member represents top covens from across the country. They meet quarterly here in Langdale. Hundreds of years ago when witches started to migrate to the United States from Europe and other countries, Langdale was the first settlement for
real
witches. Not the ones you see on television or websites claiming to be real witches. My mother’s family, the Văduvas, migrated to the United States over three hundreds year ago from Romania. We were one of the founding families of Langdale.
A Văduva witch has been the High Priestess of the Witches’ Council since the beginning. My grandmother, Azura, is the high priestess now. It would have passed to my mother, had she not been killed ten years ago. According to the Commandments of the Witches, once Azura is no longer able to be the High Priestess, the position will be passed to me as the next in line since my mother is deceased.
When the council began meeting, the Temple of Aegohati was built on what is said to be blessed grounds. Witches believed the Goddess Isis, the Goddess of Life and Magic, blessed the grounds the temple was built on making the lands sacred. The Temple of Aegohati was built deep in the Wilted Willow Woods. The Temple was built of white stone with a large white staircase that leads up to the second story entrance. The entrance is one large dark stone door. The building has three large pillars on each side of the staircase and you can see the glass dome that graces the top of the temple.
Usually the council meets at night, but due to the urgent nature of the meeting to discuss the vanishings, they are meeting at noon today. I’m dressed in my traditional witch full-length black velvet cloak. Underneath my cloak, I have on black leather pants with a fitted long sleeve grey V-neck shirt. Since I am in the woods, I just threw on my knee-high black leather riding boots. My hood is pulled up to cover my hair. I have my hair pulled into a low side ponytail, which sticks out the right side of my hood. My cloak has been adjusted to where I can strap my katana to my back.
The Văduva family crest is pinned to my left breast signifying my coven. Even though I am half Witch and half Fae I still belong to my mother’s family coven. My Fae powers come more naturally than my witch powers. The summers we spent with my mother’s family were spent learning spells, potions and the history of witches.
Running up the stairs, the power of the wards that are set to protect the temple hits me as I pass through them. Only witches are allowed to pass through these wards. My crest is visible to the guards who are standing by the entrance door. They nod their heads and open the door for me to enter. The small flames of the lit torches that decorate the hallway lead the way to the council meeting.
The temple houses several sacred rooms. In the middle of the temple, the hallway opens up to a sitting room of sorts that is underneath the glass dome. It has chairs and small tables and glass showcases. In the showcases are artifacts and old spell books that are placed on display. Once I walk under the glass dome I am only a few feet away from the Council’s meeting room. The dome showcases the sky and provides natural light for this room.
Outside the Council’s meeting room, there is another guard that I must show my crest to in order to gain entrance. He protects the Council members as they are meeting. He opens the door allowing me to enter. It is a large, round, dark room with high ceilings. In the center of the room is a large round table that the Council members sit around. It has a few extra chairs at the table for when the Council has visitors. My grandmother, Azura, sits at the head of the table.
Azura Văduva, matriarch of the Văduva family, may be a small woman but her power is unmatched by anyone. She has long black hair that reaches her mid-back. In the front she has a patch of grey hair that denotes her elder age. She smiles at me as I walk to the table, her green eyes, so much like mine, shine with pride and love.
“Good afternoon, everyone.” I smile slightly. I make sure to make eye contact with all members as I take a seat at the roundtable across from my grandmother.
“What is she doing here?” Uywrick Veckalnins, of the Solar Coven of Maine, sneers to my grandmother. He and his coven reside in a small town in Maine. He’s a small pale man with wild plain brown hair that looks like it hasn’t seen a comb in months. His eyes are dull brown and he has the face of a weasel.
He has never liked Keegan or me. He was against my mother marrying my father for the peace treaty between the Witches and the Fae. He has always been very vocal with his hatred for the Fae and this goes back decades. Why he harbors such hatred, I don’t have a clue. I don’t really care.
The smile quickly leaves Azura’s face as her eyes turn cold and fierce as she slowly stands, her attention on Uywrick. All who surrounds the table feel her radiating power. She is the High Priestess of the Witches’ Council and demands respect.
“
I
requested
my
granddaughter be here tonight
because witches are disappearing. She is here to help us.”
“We don’t need help from the Fae!” he yells, spittle flying out of his mouth. She throws up her right hand and her power knocks him back into his chair. He gasps, his face turning a cherry red, as he is unable to breathe. He begins panicking, eyes wide as he claws at his throat.
“I do not need to explain to you why I asked my granddaughter to come. She may be half Fae, but she is still half Witch. DO NOT QUESTION ME AGAIN!!” she yells in her thick Romanian accent that gets worse when she’s pissed. She releases him from her hold. He drops back into his chair, gasping for breath and holding his throat. She looks around at the rest of the table, with one eyebrow raised, daring anyone else to challenge her.
“Any other objections?” She sits back down and looks at the rest of the Council, slightly out of breath. “Let’s not forget that with the alliance created from my daughter Loredana’s marriage to Prince Vamir, the Witches and Fae came to a complete unity truce. We have worked together to become allies.”
Cyrene Nevitt, of the Midnight Coven, Evanora Cogan, of the Phoenix Coven and Klyleus Staskos, of the Firestar Coven, all quickly shake their heads no. Ginevra Ivanovs, of the Enigma Coven, just stares at my grandmother with her mouth hanging open and Geyus Zile, of the Grasslove Coven, has a blank expression on his face. I choke back a laugh, proud at my grandmother for sticking up for me. She’s like a momma bear protecting her cubs when it comes to her family.
“May I address the Council please?” I ask rising to my feet and standing as tall as my five foot three inch body will allow. My grandmother nods.
“I want to thank the Council for allowing me to come to this meeting. Not only am I here because of my grandmother’s request but as a request of my father, Prince Vamir Waldmar, the future King of the Light Fae. There are Fae missing too. I am here as a representative of the Guardians. We can work together, share information and hopefully find our people and bring them home.”
“Vamir Waldmar is a joke. The Fae are a bunch of disrespecting, no-good bullies,” Uywrick mutters under his breath, but I hear every word. I use my Fae powers to drain his lungs of all air. My element that I am able to control is air. Right now, I can suffocate him to death without even laying a finger on him.
“Arlina! No!” Azura says sharply. She rushes over to me. He’s gasping for breath, his beady eyes wide, frantically looking around.
“He’s not worth it. I know he’s an ass, but he is not worth it,” she says softly and gently strokes my arm. I walk over to him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, blowing air into his mouth. This was a trick I learned when I was younger to put air back in a person’s lungs.
“Do not disrespect my father or the Fae in front of me ever again. I will not be as kind as my grandmother,” I say very quietly to him. He nods his head and slumps down into his chair.
I walk back to my chair and take a seat. I’m trying to calm down. My breathing is rapid. There are some things that I share with my brother and father. They are not the only ones that can be deadly in the family. The rest of the Council just stares at me. I’m sure they haven’t had this much excitement at a Council meeting in years.
“I would like to apologize to the Council.” I feel the need to do this. I shouldn’t have reacted at Uywrick. I should have just ignored him.
“Don’t worry about it Arlina. Uywrick does not have any manners. Thank you for coming to aid us,” Evanora Cogan speaks from her side of the table. She is the leader of the Phoenix Coven who are located in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a tall witch, standing about six feet. She’s very tanned with bright blue eyes, with thick grey hair that is parted down the middle and braided in two braids. The braids are so long, they brush against her behind. It’s hard to tell her age due to the grey hair. She smiles, nodding her head at me.
“Yes, we all know he’s an idiot. Shall we get started?” Ginevra speaks up from her side of the table.
“Yes, of course. Let’s start with the most recent disappearance and work our way backwards,” I request. I reach for the notepad and pen that is on the table in front of me to take notes.
“Athena Ivy, twenty-two years old. She was a neophyte that belongs to a small coven in Massachusetts. She was out of town visiting friends in Pittsburgh. They were celebrating one of her friend’s birthdays. They were in a club in downtown Pittsburgh. They decided to walk the few blocks to her friend’s apartment instead of catching a cab. Her blood was discovered in an alley. Her friends were rendered unconscious and have no memory of what happened. She recently came in to witch-hood and did not stand a chance.” This came from Cyrene. I ask a few questions. Satisfied with what I’ve heard so far, I request for the next missing witch’s case.
This time Geyus spoke. “Imorn Vlajamar, seventy-five years young. He was a seasoned witch from the Stoneflag Coven of South Carolina. He was last seen leaving their coven’s meeting. He lived and worked among the humans. He owned what the humans would call a ‘
Chinese Herb shop’
. He did not show up the next day to open his store. Employees were concerned when they could not reach him. The police went to his home. His home was ransacked. Blood was everywhere and again, no body. The local authorities described the scene as something from ‘the movies’.” Geyus sighed and took off his glasses and sat them down on the table.
We continue for another hour and a half, going over all of the information on all of the cases. I take notes and ask questions here and there. I have a lot of information. My grandmother has arranged for us to meet with the local wolf Alpha later this evening. We’re hoping by sharing information amongst each other, we will be able to help each other.
I wonder if the werewolf I came across last night belongs to this pack. I tried speaking to the werewolf with the blue and brown eyes. He was a massive black wolf with a white patch of fur in the shape of a diamond. I knew instantly that he was a shifter. For some reason, I was drawn to him. There was a pull to him that made me want to get to know him. I’ve never felt that type of attraction to anyone before. Even with Christian, we were friends first before it moved to something more.
I went to the tree to think and soak up the moon rays. I tend to be a night owl and the moon enhances a witch’s powers. The beautiful red maple tree is the perfect place to soak up the moon rays at night. It’s the perfect place to relax in the daytime due to the shade that is created by its massive branches that are filled with the large green leaves. When I am in the human realm my witch power becomes stronger.
After the failed attempt of a conversation with the beautiful wolf, I flashed back to my room at my grandmother’s house and fell asleep that night wondering if I would ever meet that blue/brown-eyed wolf in his human form.
A
zura
, the High Priestess of the Witches, wants to meet with me tonight. She must want to discuss the missing supernaturals. She suggested her place for the meeting. Our meeting is for eight p.m. and we are a little early. We took two black Chevy trucks, both with heavy tint on the windows. All of our vehicles are armored against silver bullets to protect us should we come under fire.
I have brought five of my most trusted wolves with me for this meeting. Reed, Dante and Gunnar are behind us in the other truck. Alec is riding with Devyn and me. They all belong to the Diamond Pack. Members of the pack are chosen to be members of the Legion because of their skill and dedication to protecting our people. We are treating this meeting with the Witches like it is a mission. Everyone is serious and thinking of what we can possibly learn so we can try to find the missing wolves.
“Do you think we will find out anything helpful from the Witches?” Alec asks from the back seat. Alec Finlay has been my best friend since we were pups. We met the summer we turned five years old. His parents had left their old pack where the Alpha was a mean son of a bitch and was not taking care of his pack. Alec’s parents wanted a better living environment and moved to join our pack. We became fast friends and are as close as brothers.
“We can compare notes and see if there truly are similarities. I think it would be best to share information. At this point, anything can help since we keep running into dead ends,” I say as we turn into the Văduva’s driveway. Alec nods his head looking out the back window.
We travel down the driveway for a little over a mile before we actually reach the main house. The house stands four stories high. It is a beautiful old mansion. It has a roundabout driveway where we can park the two SUVs in the front of the house. In the middle of the roundabout, there is a round stone fountain with a statue. The Văduva mansion is made of all brick, with a large stone staircase that leads to a large heavy black wooden door. The landscaping is perfectly manicured. We get out of the trucks and meet over by my truck.
“Reed, Gunnar and Dante, I want you guys to stay out here to make sure we don’t have any trouble. Do a perimeter check of the outside. Devyn and Alec you will come with me,” I instruct. They nod their heads. I do not have to worry about anyone interrupting the meeting. An older balding human dressed in a butler suit answers the door. His eyes widen slightly when he sees the three huge men with bulging muscles standing on the doorstep.
“May I help you, sir?” he asks opening the door wider.
“Colin MacKenzie to see Azura.”
“Yes, of course, we are expecting you. Please, come in.” He opens the door fully to allow us to enter the home.
We are in a large foyer with white and light brown marble floors. The house is trimmed with dark oak. In the foyer is a massive staircase to the left that leads to the upper level. The walls are painted an off white with famous paintings hanging here and there. I’m sure if one were to check the authenticity of the paintings, they would discover that they are the originals.
“My name is Henry. Please follow me. I will place you in the study where you are to meet with Mrs. Văduva. I’ll seat you gentlemen and then go get the lady of the house.” We follow him as he begins walking down the hallway past the oak staircase.
“Alfred does exist!” Devyn mutters. With our keen sense of hearing, I have no problem picking up what he said. I turn around and give him stern look to let him know that this is serious. Henry seats us in the study. The study is an enormous two-story room; to the left is a window that overlooks the gardens on the side of the house. There is massive desk that overlooks the windows. There is a table to the right and along the walls are dark oak bookcases filled with many leather bound books that look centuries old. There are a couple of leather couches in the room with one along the wall near her desk, along with two chairs that face the desk.
Alec drops down on the leather couch. Devyn sits in one of the chairs at the table. I walk over to look out a side window that looks out into the yard.
“You want to go for a run tonight?” Alec asks.
“Hell yeah! Two nights in a row would be awesome,” Devyn comments, stretching in his chair.
“Depends.” My thoughts are on the little black-haired beauty from last night. Maybe if we do go out for another run, it would be possible that I could run into her again. Looking wouldn’t hurt. My wolf certainly perks up at the thought of seeing her again.
The door opens and Azura breezes into the room. She’s a small woman of Romanian heritage. Her long dark hair with the gray streak is pulled back in a bun. Her familiar looking green eyes reveal her age and wisdom. She is dressed in a long sleeve, flowing black and blue dress.
“Hello, Colin.” She comes over and shakes my hand. “Devyn, Alec.” She nods to Devyn and Alec. She gestures for me to have a seat in a chair in front of her desk while she walks around the desk to sit her desk chair.
“Thank you for coming. I appreciate it since it was on such short notice and I’m sure you are very busy.” She shifts to get comfortable in her chair. Azura is one of the most powerful witches, if she requests your presence you better make sure you make it.
“No problem. I think it would be great to share information and work together,” I say leaning forward a little in my chair. Anything that we can learn today could help us with the missing wolves. We’ve been hitting a wall lately in our investigations.
“I’m waiting on one someone – Ah, here she is,” Azura says as the door opens.
At that exact moment I hear the door open and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck and the scent of apricots hits my nostrils. I know who it is without even turning. I have thought of nothing else but her. I cannot believe she is here. My brothers and Alec would never let me live it down if they knew how much she has filled my mind. They know my philosophy on relationships with the fairer sex. I can also sense that Alec and Devyn both have paused what they are doing and are holding their breaths. I finally turn to look at the door and there she stands. My chest feels as if an elephant is sitting on it.
Fuck me.
She looks even better than I remember. Black leather knee-high boots, her perfectly sculpted legs are encased in black leather pants with a tight grey long sleeve V-neck shirt. Her long black curly hair is left loose to fall past her shoulders. I just want to reach out and grab it, to feel how silky smooth it is. She has her marauder clipped to her belt and I can see her katana peeking over the top of her head. I can’t help but stare at her while she pauses halfway across the room staring right back at me. I look over at Devyn and Alec and they are both mesmerized by her. I can feel my wolf whining, straining to get to her.
Mate
.
This one word could break me. No, she can’t be my mate! I shake my head and immediately wipe all emotions from my face. No one can know how drawn to her I am.
“Colin, I would like to introduce you to my granddaughter, Princess Arlina Waldmar. Lina, this is Colin MacKenzie, Alpha of the Diamond Pack and Leader of the Legion.” She stands and comes around the table to hug Arlina. She entwines her arm with Arlina’s and turns her in Alec and Devyn’s direction. “Over here is Devyn MacKenzie and Alec Finlay, both are members of the Diamond Pack and the Legion.”
Alec and Devyn scramble to come over and shake her hand. I shoot both of them looks telling them to back off. I slowly stand and extend my hand to her as she turns to me. My large hand engulfs her tiny one. Looking down into her beautiful green eyes, a man could get lost. A small jolt of electricity runs up my arm and I pull back abruptly.
“Hello again,” she says. “It was you last night. The rude wolf who didn’t want to speak.” She cocks her head to the side.
“Shifting would have left me naked,” I snap, then wince on the inside. “How did you know that it was me?”
“Your eyes. There are not too many people with two different eye colors. And it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen a naked man,” she says sarcastically, her smile fading. Damn, I didn’t mean to make her stop smiling. My wolf growls in my head sensing that she’s not happy. He wants to make her smile and see her happy.
“Arlina! You two have met before?” Azura asks, looking at both of us.
“Yes, grandmother. I went to my favorite tree up on the hill last night and a large black wolf was there and I knew he was a shifter. I tried to make light conversation just to be nice but he didn’t shift to speak to me. No big deal,” Arlina explains to everyone.
“Wait, Princess Waldmar?” Alec asks in awe. “As in the Princess of the Light Fae, Powerful Witch, Warrior Princess, Member of the Guardians?“
“Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.” She laughs, looking up to the ceiling, counting her yeses. We all move over to the table and have a seat. Azura smiles. She beams with pride for her granddaughter.
“Will you marry me?” Alec asks with the biggest smile and holds out both arms. She laughs. “I’m your biggest fan!” He wiggles his eyebrows up and down.
Devyn chokes back laughter as I give Alec my death stare. My death stare has been known to make grown men piss themselves. Alec seems immune to it now since he’s just mesmerized by Arlina. His eyes haven’t left her yet. My wolf is actually jealous! My wolf is pacing, agitated and not happy Alec is paying so much attention to Arlina. And she seems to like the attention. My wolf growls on the inside. I should be the one making her smile.
Mine
. The voice whispers again.
“I’m sorry, we just met! Can we get to know each other first?” Arlina giggles flirting back with Alec.
“Can we please discuss what we came for?” I snap. I have the strong urge to punch Alec in the face. He’s been my friend since childhood and I want to pummel his face. My wolf is feeling very aggressive towards Arlina and doesn’t want any other male looking at her much less flirting with her. It’s getting hard trying to ignore the words that keep replaying in my head,
mine and mate
.
For the next hour we get down to business. Azura discusses the witches disappearances, I discuss the wolves and Arlina shares the Fae information. We’re all getting tired from sitting. Alec covers a yawn. Arlina stands from the table and begins pacing back and forth in front of the large windows.
“There has to be something that they all have in common. These cannot be random disappearances. Our people just don’t disappear!” She comes back to stand at the table staring at one of the files.
“What do we know about the Vampires who are missing?” Devyn asks.
“I haven’t had any recent contact with Dorian yet. We will need to make contact with him and get him to meet with us.” Azura replies looking out the window from her seat at the table.
“What is the common theme of all the disappearances?” Arlina asks no one in particular still staring down at the files.
“All of the reports state that there was blood all over the crime scenes. With the wolves’ crime scenes, the Legion investigated those and at each one, one of the Legion members picked up the scent of brimstone.” Alec pauses while staring off at his files. “All the blood definitely means that all of them put a fight,” Alec throws out as Azura runs over to one of her bookcases frantically looking for a book, muttering to herself.
“Grandmother, what is it?” Arlina goes and stands with her grandmother while Azura is searching her bookshelves.
“Lina, the connection is brimstone. The wolves smelling capability is better than that of the witches or the Fae. At the witches or Fae crime scenes, we would not have detected the scent. We don’t know if that scent was detected at the places where they were last seen but since there are at least six wolves missing, and they all had the scent of brimstone, we must start with that.” She finds a large dark brown book that has ancient relics engraved in the leather cover. She plops it down on the table and starts quickly flipping the pages of the book. We all gather around her to get a look at the book.
“Brimstone, brimstone.... sulfa...” I say out loud trying to figure out the connection.
“Demons!” Arlina and Azura exclaim at the same time as Azura finds the page she is looking for.
“When a demon is around a faint hint of sulfa or brimstone will be in the air,” Azura explains.
“Shit! Demons haven’t been able to come to this realm in forever!” Devyn exclaims while looking around the room.
“That is not true. Demons come to the human realm. They shouldn’t be allowed to come but they have help,” Azura corrects. She silently reads from the page she found. I look down at the page and it is written in some ancient language. We wait patiently for her to finish. She looks up at Arlina. “This isn’t good. “
Arlina looks at the page and must be able to read the language too. “I must speak with the last people who saw the wolves before they disappeared.”
“No,” I say quickly. No way is she going around interviewing other wolves. Most wolves have become hesitant to speak to outsiders.
“I don’t need your permission.” She looks me straight in the eye. My wolf bristles at the challenge. I’m not used to anyone defying me.
“Like hell you don’t. I’m in charge of the Legion, the law enforcers of the wolves! That means I am charged with protecting the wolves. Just in case you forgot!” I growl at her, feeling the need to protect her from the unknown. There is no telling what would happen to her if she were to go alone.
“I need to talk to them!” She steps closer to me with her hands on her hips, staring up at me, challenging me. “I can talk with them and with their permission, I might be able to retrieve the memories that they may be blocking or may have been erased. You said that all of the people who last saw the victims have no memory or can’t remember much from the day the victims went missing.”
She fiercely looks up at me, her eyes darkening, daring me to say no again. No one challenges me. Not ever, or at least no one who lived to talk about. I can feel her power radiating from her. She’s fierce and powerful and I can see why they call her the Warrior Princess. Devyn and Alec exchange glances and look back at us like they are watching a Ping-Pong match.